Developing Nontraditional Community Health Placements

Abstract

Building capacity for student clinical experiences has become a key concern for nurse educators in the 21st century. For community health faculty, traditional placements at public health departments or other health-affiliated organizations often do not provide adequate numbers or types of placement opportunities. Wishing to expand experiences for its undergraduate program, faculty at a midwestern university have developed and nurtured long-standing collaborative relationships with organizations not typically used by schools of nursing. Such partnerships are often called "nontraditional," with the understanding that they are not affiliated with the typical health sector organizations. This article introduces two of these partnerships, describes the process used to establish and maintain them, and identifies the outcomes achieved by students, clients, and organizations.